Weather The Storm
by Dahkoro5050
Summary: Beast Boy disappears every time a storm rolls around, and Raven investigates. What will Raven learn about the resident shape-shifter, and will secret feelings be revealed? Find out if you dare! BBxRae Read and Review!


**Disclaimer: If I were rich enough to buy the Teen Titans, those who do own them would take one look at me and go "Nope!**

*******BBxRae*******

Raven always loved thunderstorms. The sound of the rain crashing against the tower's large windows had a calming effect on her and was wonderful for meditation. The sound of thunder shaking the room was a reminder of her happier days cuddled up with her mother when she use to be afraid of the noise. Granted everything changed when she got her powers, but still. And afterwards the air always felt so clear and crisp, and everything felt so clean. All good things for a meditating half-demon.

On the other hand, the storm typically means reduced crime resulting in more activity around the tower; NOT good for meditation. Because of this Raven usually meditates in her room with her curtains open to get a better view of the storm without the intrusion of the others.

However, since the storm rolled in while she was meditating in the commons room, she did not have time to go to her bedroom. _Eh, it'll be a good chance to see how the team normally acts during storms. _She figured that Starfire would be in the kitchen cooking up some _feast of the stormy weather_ or something and Robin would either lock himself in his room studying old case files or dote upon the team's resident alien. _He really needs to find a hobby. _Cyborg and Beast Boy would most likely be engaged in an oh so invigorating game of the newest Mega Monkeys game on the game station, or whatever it was called. She idly wondered why the green teen had not disturbed her meditation yet as she recited her mantra one last time.

Raven opened her eyes as she came out of her trance. The first thing she noticed was that Cyborg was in fact playing game station. Normally that was not unusual, however today it warranted a second glance. He was playing alone. Usually he was playing with Robin or Beast Boy, but she noticed that the Boy Wonder was blatantly staring at his girlfriend of three weeks while she cooked another one of her Tamaranean delicacies. Two points for Raven. Beast Boy however was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Beast Boy?" She asked Cyborg.

"I donno. He always disappears when a thunderstorm hits," the cybernetic titan replied without looking up from his game.

"Any idea why?"

"Nope. He probably just goes out to play in the rain." Cyborg smirks and pauses his game before turning to the empath with a wicked gleam in his eyes… well, eye. "What's it to you, Raven?"

Her eyes go wide at what he was insinuating and she pulls up her hood to hide her blush.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she droned in monotone. Cyborg's grin widened, if that was even possible.

"Oh I think you know exactly what I'm talkin' about, Rae-Rae. Could it be the fact that the first thing you did when you came out of your meditation trance thingy was ask about him, or maybe it's the fact that you're blushing at the mere implication of your affections, or maybe..." Cyborg found that he was unable to continue his teasing when he found that his mouth was clamped shut by a cold dark aura. "Mh mphbhm mhm mhm mhm mahph mhmhm hmbhmah..." He continued to ramble and Raven decided to wait until he was done before allowing him speech.

"Shut up."

She knew exactly what he was talking about, even if she couldn't understand a word he was saying. He was referring to about three weeks ago when she had come to him for some advice after Starfire and Robin had gotten together. Advice about her… relationship with Beast Boy. She couldn't go to Starfire about it, she would blab before you could count to three; the girl could not keep a secret. Robin was no expert on relationships and she knew he could offer her little help, plus he would be too busy worrying about his own love life to worry about someone else's. _Ugh, I did not just think those words. _She thought to herself. And thus Cyborg was her best bet. She had been crushing on the green teen for years now and was just starting to realize that it might be something more than that. Crushes didn't last years, and she had no battle plan for anything beyond a crush. Granted her strategy was to ignore it completely, but still. Cyborg was a great help and even gave her a few pointers on how she might catch Beast Boy's eye (none of which she had put to use yet, but it would happen… eventually) though he relentlessly teased her about it when no one else was watching.

"Raphn! Yohm chn rht meh gh nhm," Cyborg shouted through his dark muzzle.

"Oh, sorry," She replied as she was pulled from her thoughts.

"Thank you," he muttered as the aura fell.

"So you said he was out in the rain?"

"Yeah, he usually comes in after an hour exhausted and soaked." Cyborg picked up his controller again before saying, "Now that I think about it though, he usually looks a little down afterwards." His face lit up as he got an idea. "Say, Raven. Why don't you go talk to your green beau and figure out what it is he does out there, I'm curious." Raven glared at him when he called Beast Boy her beau.

"Shut up, would you!" She hissed. "Robin and Starfire are right over there," she pointed over to the kitchen, but the star crossed lovers were nowhere to be found. There was however a roar coming from inside the oven.

"Darn it, Lover Boy! Your girlfriend's cooking was bad enough, now with her half distracted she's not even killing it before she cooks it!" The teen yells as he rushed to battle the tentacled beast that had taken residence in the oven. His sonic cannon ripped through the air, all but destroying the stove top.

"I'm gonna go check on Beast Boy," she said with a smirk, walking out of the room.

"Yeah, you mean check out Beast Boy!" He called after her. A loud crashing noise could be heard. "Ah! Why won't you die?"

Raven had found Beast Boy, but he wasn't singing and dancing in the rain, instead he was sitting down on the shore of the island. Raven noted that this was the same place that he was when she had come to comfort him after the incident with Adonis. She pulled up her hood as she stepped out into the storm to prevent herself from getting soaked, though she had a feeling that it would do little help if she stayed out for any length of time.

She noticed his cute pointed ears perk up as she approached him, but he didn't turn to greet her.

"Hey Rae," he said in a monotone that rivaled her own. "What brings you out into the rain?" He asked, trying to sound happy but Raven saw right through it.

"I was curious as to why you were out here. You know, you could catch a cold if you stay out here too long."

"Nope, I'm not able to catch a common cold, or at least not from weather this mild." Just then a streak of lightning pierced the sky followed swiftly by a giant thunderclap.

"Mild?" She questioned, and then sat down beside him.

"It has to do with my unstable genetics. Viruses and bacteria have lots of trouble staying alive in a body that can be both a bird and an insect, plus the more harmful ones usually die when I transform."

"But what about that time you were sick when Robin went Slade-crazy?"

"Oh, that? That has more to do with the disease I got when I was five." Raven noticed that he obviously didn't want to talk about it, so she changed the topic (one of Cyborg's tips) to something that she had been wondering about for a while now.

"So what's up with your self proclaimed rivalry with Aqualad? I've never noticed any reason for it, it just seemed to happen."

"Whaaaaat? I got no idea what you're talking about, Rae!" He scoffed. "I got no problem with fish boy."

"Ok, that's good because I've got a date with him later this week," she lied, knowing that he couldn't stand hearing something like that. She felt a surge of jealousy she was unprepared for but had little time to think about it.

"WHAT! How could you even think about dating that guy? He smells like rotten fish and chlorine, he's totally arrogant and stuck up like he knows everything, and he's… why are you looking at me like that?" Raven was smirking at him and had even raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"I don't really have a date with Aqualad, and you just proved yourself utterly wrong." Beast Boy huffed and crossed his arms. "Why are you so jealous of him?"

"It's stupid."

"Then maybe I can convince you that he's not so bad."

"That's just it, Rae. I know he's not a bad guy, I know that. It's just," he sighs. "He's everything I wish I could be. Tall, handsome, mysterious, the ladies love him. Did you know he was ranked number one for hottest male Titan. Even though he's different he still looks almost normal, not like me," he finished dejectedly. He was quiet for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should share this with the Raven. "'Course it runs a lot deeper than that. I guess there are two real reasons why I can't stand the guy. Did I ever tell you how my parents died?" She shook her head, very interested in what he was about to say. Beast Boy almost never talked about his past, and from what little she had heard, she knew exactly why: it was too painful to talk about.

"When I was about five we were living in Africa and my Dad asks me if I wanted to go on a boat ride on the river. Of course I said yeah, and we went. It was almost the rainy season, but the rains hadn't come yet, or at least that's what we thought. The storm hit the mountainside a couple miles away while we were on the river and it flooded. We lived in a village on the plateau and the river came down from the mountain. When the river flooded, it created a waterfall much closer than it usually was, and…" The boy choked back a sob, and then sniffled before wiping his nose.

Raven watched as the pouring rain rolled down his face, though she couldn't help but wonder how much of it was tears. She had always known that he carried great grief with him, but she could only feel it when he was alone. She never confronted him about it because she felt it wasn't her business, and before her sixteenth birthday she was just as secretive as he was.

"Garfield! Fly away. Turn into a bird and fly away." He seemed to be reliving his memories in his mind. "I love you so much, sweetheart. But right now I need you to fly away, "he sobbed. Raven placed a hand on his back comfortingly, bringing him back to reality.

"It's ok, Beast Boy. You're ok." Raven felt very awkward comforting him; it wasn't a thing that came natural to her.

"That's exactly it, Rae! I didn't die and instead watched my parents plummeted to their death over a waterfall!" He was sobbing, and Raven felt horrible for making it worse by bringing this up. "Do you know what it's like to watch your mother and father die while you did nothing to help them? I could have saved them, Rae, but instead I chose to save myself. You wanna know why I'm so jealous of Aqualad? It's 'cause he could have easily saved them, and he would have done it too." Beast Boy became quiet again.

"I've been terrified of the water ever since, well, you know. I'm not scared for myself, but for everyone around me who couldn't save themselves. When we first met Aqualad I felt that I had something to prove, if I could be better than him then I could prove that I could have saved them. I was scared for you guys. On that mission with Aqualad you all could have drowned and I would have been helpless to stop it. I would have had to watch another family drown before my eyes." Raven was surprised at that, he considered her as family. Sure the titans acted like family and she considered them as such, but she never stopped to consider that the others would think the same. She felt a pang of hurt when she realized that he probably only considered her a sister, and that really hurt her chances of ever dating him. But she brushed it away to deal with later.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?" He asked.

"I'm sorry that this happened to you, you didn't deserve any of it." There was a sad smile on the green boy's face.

"Thanks Rae."

"It's Raven," she huffed, almost playfully. She didn't really mind him calling her Rae, but she had appearances to keep. She also hoped a little bit of normalcy would bring him out of this little funk, she didn't know how to deal with a sad Beast Boy, but some day she hoped she could.

"So, what was the other reason?" She asked.

"Other reason for what?"

"You know, the other reason for why you dislike Aqualad. You said there were two."

"Oh, uh right." He chuckled nervously. The weather was starting to clear up and Raven could see a huge blush on his cheeks.

_"__I wonder why he would be blushing. The reason can't be that embarrassing unless-"_

"Well uh, I guess the second reason is 'cause you totally went gaga over him the first time we met him."

"Why would you dislike him for that? Where you…?" She paused, not wanting to insinuate what she was silently hoping.

"Jealous," he finished for her. "Yeah, I was jealous of fish-dude, er- I mean Aqualad. I've practically made it my mission from day one to get you to laugh but Fish-boy comes along and you start gushing all over him."

"I was not gushing," she denied, though she knew she was lying.

"You totally were!" He laughed bitterly. "I'll bet that if we were in some sort of anime or manga you'd have had hearts for eyes and a ring of hearts floating around you!" Raven huffed indignantly.

"Of course you would reference comics at a time like this."

"You know it Rae-Rae," the green boy grinned.

"My name is Raven," she corrected. A comfortable silence fell over them as they sat on the shore while the storm came to a stop.

"Why do you force yourself to weather these storms out here by yourself?"

"Jeez, Rae. If I didn't know better I'd say you were worried about me or something," he joked. A pang of hurt struck the empath at his joke, though she shoved it down.

"What do you mean if you didn't know better?" She sounded hurt by his words and he guessed also because he was avoiding her question. She turned to him with a stoic look on her face, but her eyes were pleading for an answer.

"I'm sorry, Rae. I shouldn't have said that. I know that despite your, uh, parentage you really do try hard to be my-er, I mean our friend. It's just that most of the time when your control slips I'm always on the receiving end of things. I've noticed lately that your control is much better but for some reason I'm still getting tossed out of windows. Granted they're usually open now, but still. I shouldn't joke about what we, uh, what we have." He laughed a little. "So you wanted to know why I 'weather the storms,' as you put it, right." She nodded.

"I guess it's my way of staying close to my parents. They were lost in a storm and I guess they feel a little bit closer during them. It relaxes me. I usually use the time to think about y- uh stuff and things," he laughed nervously, hoping she didn't pick up on his slip up.

However she did catch it, and that coupled with his surge of jealousy earlier and his willingness to tell her these things gave her hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe he reciprocated her feelings. She was sensing wave after wave of anxiety, nervousness, and affection rolling off of the green teen. _He couldn't possibly be about to…_

"Hey Rae? I got something I think I need to say. Wow, I didn't mean for that to rhyme." He giggled. "Is that a crime?" He couldn't hold it in and burst into laughter. Raven slapped his arm playfully, reminding him of what he was going to say.

"Heh heh, right. Well, I guess, er- what I'm, uh well, I mean..." She looked at him expectantly. He was looking anywhere but at her. "Gosh, why is it so hard to talk to you all of the sudden!"

"Maybe it's because you're not looking at me." She reached out and turned his face towards her gently and looked into his deep emerald eyes. He returned her gaze but before speaking lowered her now soaked hood.

"Raven, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I like you." Raven's heart leapt when he said that, but she felt she didn't want to scare him off by how much she returned those feelings.

"I like you, too. Though I thought we had covered that in your last trip into Nevermore a few years ago," she teased with a smirk.

"No, not like that! I mean yes like that but that's not what I meant. More than that, you know? Like-like." He had tightly closed his eyes and braced for an impact of some kind, expecting to be squashed by a giant hand of dark energy, or skipped across the bay, or chucked into a window. But instead he found there to be a wonderful warm sensation on his lips. He opened his eyes to find Raven kissing him. He was utterly shocked but soon got over it and began kissing her back, almost as though he were trying to make up for lost time. When they broke the kiss they stared into one another's eyes waiting for the other to speak.

"Wow, you're uh- you're a good kisser," he stated awkwardly. She blushed.

"You too."

"Does this make us boyfriend and girlfriend now?" He asked nervously. She nodded.

"Does that mean I get to do this more often?" He planted a kiss on her cheek. She blushed again before gently shoving his face away.

"Don't push it." She smirked.

"Well, we best go inside and get those clothes off you, I wouldn't my new girlfriend to catch a cold." Her eyes went wide.

"Beast Boy! I'm definitely not ready for something like that so early." He missed the hint of playfulness in her voice.

"What do you… oh shoot Rae! I so didn't mean it like that, I swear!" Raven smirked at him.

"Relax, I was just teasing. C'mon, let's go inside." He answered by standing up and offering her a hand. She took it, and they walked back into the tower, hands still interlocked.

Up above the cybernetic teen watched the entire exchange, feeling rather proud of himself.

"Ah Cy ol' buddy," he says to himself. "They should start callin' ya the matchmaker. Speaking of which, Kole and Jericho would be a cute couple." Suddenly a large slimy tentacle wrapped around his face, pulling him back.

"NO, not again, you foul creature!"

*******BBxRae*******

Thank you for taking the time to read my little oneshot. Leave a review or favorite or somethin'! Anyways the rest of this AN will be for those who have read my story titled Dream Catcher.

First off I'd like to apologize for not updating in forever, I'll list a bunch of sob story excuses in the next chapter for those who care and/or have read this. The main reason right now was writers block, by this story that I just wrote helped out a little.

Second off I am sad to say a week from today I will be heading to a two week camp, at which I will be internetless. therefore I will not be updating during that time. However that leads tho the third part of my AN (also known as the best part).

Because of my absence to come I will bust my butt to get the next chapter of Dream Catcher up before I leave! expects cheering but gets crickets Heh-heh, anyways I will do my absolute best to update soon, so 'til then!


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